


All is Bright

by gaslightgallows (hearts_blood)



Category: Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries
Genre: Christmas Fluff, Christmas Presents, F/M, Gentleness, Mistletoe, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-20
Updated: 2015-09-20
Packaged: 2018-04-22 11:06:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4833098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hearts_blood/pseuds/gaslightgallows
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After sharing a lovely Christmas dinner with her friends and family, Jack has something for Phryne.</p>
            </blockquote>





	All is Bright

**Author's Note:**

> This is meant as a follow-up to [One Gaudy Night](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4498896), but it can certainly be read on its own. ♥

“Hmmm...” Phryne dropped bonelessly into a chair in front of the Christmas tree and treated herself to a glass of balmy old port. “I don’t usually indulge in port,” she commented, gesturing with the wineglass towards the man in the chaise opposite her, “but this is exceptionally good. Your Uncle Ted clearly knew his wines.”

“He was a bit of a tippler,” Jack agreed, with a hint of a smile. “My aunt was forced to sell most of his cellar after he passed, but she kept the port. It was a matter of pride. My cousin Emily makes sure that I get a bottle or two, every Christmas, but I can usually only finish the one. I used to give the other to my former father-in-law... Mrs. Stanley seemed to appreciate the gift of a bottle, though.”

“I think she was very touched.” Phryne sipped the mellow dark liquid and swallowed it slowly. It seemed more appropriate to a quiet postprandial Christmas drink than her usual whiskey. “More than she was by the mistletoe Jane hung up in the parlour doorway. I do believe my good aunt actually blushed when you kissed her cheek, and I _know_ Dot did.”

“Not more than poor Collins did, when he got caught under the mistletoe with you,” Jack retorted, eyes twinkling. “Did you have to snog him quite so thoroughly?”

“I was perfectly polite to Hugh!”

“Well, you didn’t use your tongue, as far as I could tell.”

“I would never do such a thing to Dot,” said Phryne primly. “Though I did think she and Aunt Prudence were going to faint, when Jane pointed out that Bert and Cec were lounging in the danger spot. But they were _such_ good sports. As were you,” she added, “when Jane tugged you over and demanded a kiss. She was altogether thrilled with the gramophone you gave her, by the way.”

“Your aunt seemed thrilled as well,” said Jack, rather wryly. “Clearly she was worried that after giving Jane a bicycle for her birthday, the next logical step would be a motorcycle for Christmas.”

“Well... maybe when she’s a bit older.” She gazed at him softly over the rim of her wine glass. “Thank you for coming to dinner today, Jack. It’s been a very long time since I was able to have the people I care about around me at Christmastime.”

He nodded slightly, watching her with tender eyes. “I had nowhere else to be. And nowhere else I wanted to be.”

“I never thanked you,” she continued, almost shyly, “for staying with me on my birthday. For my ‘one gaudy night.’”

“Yes,” Jack murmured, smiling. “You did. Which reminds me, I have something for you.” 

“Oh, Jack, you shouldn’t have gotten me anything...”

“I didn’t.” He went into the hall and retrieved a small, clinking parcel from the inner pocket of his overcoat. “These belonged to my grandfather’s youngest sister, my great-aunt Esther. She was a hell of a woman, according to my father. Remained a spinster her entire life, despite several offers of marriage. She once used a hatpin to disarm a burglar in my grandfather’s home, and in her later years she went on to breed racehorses.” 

“She sounds like she was quite the handful.” Phryne quirked an eyebrow. “My kind of lady.”

Jack handed her the parcel. “They’re a bit old-fashioned now, obviously, but I thought you might appreciate them.” He chuckled. “You rather remind me of the stories about her.”

Phryne set aside her glass of port and eagerly peeled back the brown paper with a childlike excitement at receiving a present. “Oh Jack,” she breathed. Within the wrapping lay a set of hinged rose gold bangle-style bracelets, with a delicate design in black enamal. She lifted one up to examine it in the light. “These are _exquisite_... and far from being old-fashioned, this pattern is classical and timeless.”

She turned the bracelet round and saw the central figure of the design, a sweet little bird... a swallow. “Thank you,” she murmured, tears forming in her eyes. She looked up at him and smiled. “Thank you, Jack.”

Seeing that he wanted her to try them on, but was too polite to ask, Phryne clicked the wheels of the latches and clasped the bracelets round her wrists. The pale gold glowed against her skin. “Beautiful,” Jack said simply. 

Phryne’s heart felt too full. She needed to relieve the pressure, somehow. “I have something for you, too,” she remembered, at the last minute. She went to the little desk in the corner of the parlour and produced a small velvet box from a drawer. 

“Oh?” He sounded nervous. “I hope you didn’t go to any trouble on my account...”

“Well, in one sense, I went to a great deal of trouble,” said Phryne, somewhat wryly. “But I didn’t spend a fortune on it, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

Jack glanced at her in bemusement and opened the box. Inside lay a medal, a gold-and-red-enameled cross on a blue and scarlet ribbon. The branches of the cross were inscribed with the words ‘Faith’, ‘Hope’, and ‘Charity’. “It’s a Royal Red Cross,” Phryne explained. “I earned it during the war. It’s awarded for exceptional services in military nursing.”

His jaw worked for a second or two. “Phryne, I can’t take this,” he said gruffly.

“Of course you can,” she retorted, “it’s a gift.” She took the medal from the box and pinned it to the breast of his jacket. “You saved my life, Jack. Surely that deserves a medal of _some_ kind.”

Jack’s eyes shone soft and blue. “Do you know,” he said, after a moment, “you were the only woman here tonight who I didn’t manage to catch under the mistletoe?”

“Naturally. I’m far too clever to allow myself to be caught.” Phryne pressed herself to his chest and smiled invitingly at him. “But I could be drawn... by the right man...”

He caught her by her gold-banded hands and pulled her gently to the parlour doorway.

**Author's Note:**

> For the curious, [this is the bracelet](http://isadoras.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/thumbnail/500x400/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/v/i/victorian-rose-gold-bracelet.jpg).


End file.
